from Hacker News

Iron Curtains Considered Harmful

by haywirez on 12/14/19, 6:36 AM with 16 comments

• by haywirez on 12/16/19, 8:44 PM

  I wrote this upon realizing that two more or less random historical events ended up determining the entirety of my life’s course so far — the fall of the Iron Curtain and the rise of the Internet. These two have their hand in everything that’s dear to me, from the music I love, the relationships I have and the things that enabled me to do what I do. It all makes sense, but I’m still puzzled and in awe.

• by rini17 on 12/16/19, 10:22 PM

  I am living in Bratislava, did not emigrate. It feels like living in story, where despite most of the best and brightest people saying "fuck this imma out of here", the potential is still there and nothing is firmly decided even after 30 years.

• by fphhotchips on 12/16/19, 11:44 PM

  I was very confused for longer than I'd like to admit because what felt like it was supposed to be an article was actually a full screen spinning 3D model of a castle that hijacked my scroll wheel to zoom in and out.

  If you also have this issue, you need to grab the scroll bar and drag down to keep reading.

• by 3fe9a03ccd14ca5 on 12/17/19, 3:21 PM

  > It's important to understand that these barriers were built to keep people from leaving.

  This is the thing that scares me most about (real) socialist and communist ideologies. People inevitably try and leave, either to protect their personal property or belief values. And for those systems to work you need buy in from everyone.

  The result is always some inevitable flavor of political slavery, in stark contrast to a government deriving it’s powers from the consent of the governed.